And threats of an end to the busty barmaid and British chocolate have also been raised.

But now a Welsh MEP has attacked the "silly Euromyths" that attempt to portray the EU as "sinister".

Eluned Morgan, who has served as a Labour MEP for 12 years, said "Euromyths" are not only responsible for creating anti- European feeling, but also for drawing attention away from more serious issues.

The most recent scare story was a spotlight on Irish heritage, with the announcement that the tradition of a wake with an open coffin would be banned as a result of EU plans to withdraw embalming fluids.

According to the office of the European Commission in Wales, EU scare stories appear on a daily basis, but the majority turn out not to be true.

The commission has even devoted a section of its website to refuting the stories.

Mrs Morgan said, "Some of the stories make me laugh frankly because they are so over the top, and sometimes you have to give these people credit for being so creative.

"There was one recently where it said the European Commission was going to standardise the size of condoms and everyone was saying they wouldn't be big enough for British assets.

"But it's just titillation fuelled by newspapers. Most of the Euromyths are either pure imagination or massive exaggeration. They're spread to make the EU appear sinister or silly."

But she said the serious side was that it damages the image of the EU. And she blamed the owners of tabloid newspapers who do not agree with the EU's agenda for causing the damage.

"There's a drip drip effect which builds up an anti-EU agenda and of course it's extremely frustrating," she said.

"The problem is people believe in the myths. When they said we were going to ban chocolate people thought it was true. But eight years on, it never happened. Time proves it's just nonsense.

"And in Wales we had our own Caerphilly cheese myth. Everyone said the last Caerphilly cheese maker had been put out of business because of EU legislation. It was nonsense but people believed it."

She said focusing on such stories meant serious legislation was often overlooked.

She cited a story about farmers being banned from using tractors because of vibration.

"That was a really serious piece of legislation, which is really important in South Wales where so many people have been affected by white finger, but once the nonsense story was out the way, it wasn't given any serious coverage.

"These are the big issues we should be concerned with and not the stupid scare stories."

Mrs Morgan believes that as the stories focus on negative aspects of the single market, the public do not realise how it benefits them.

She said, "There are huge benefits. The key to remember with a lot of this legislation is that we have the biggest single market in the world.

"Today you can buy things in the shops that weren't around 20 years ago because we are part of the EU. For example, 30 years ago people hardly knew what pasta was.

"Also the people writing the legislation are Brussels administrators who are being driven by consumer demands. It's about protecting the consumer."

Top 10 Euromyths Bananas In 1998 stories abounded of how Brussels was regulating the bendiness of bananas, outlawing any that were too curvy.

Barmaids Last year it was busty barmaids who made it into the headlines. Newspapers claimed Brussels was forcing barmaids who showed their cleavage to cover up. Not out of modesty but because they were facing the risk of skin cancer when they popped outside to pick up pint glasses. Particular outrage surrounded the case of Bavarian barmaids whose traditional costume includes a low-cut top.

Caerphilly Cheese Back in 1995 it was alleged the last producer of Caerphilly cheese was being forced to close down because EU law stated it was illegal to take delivery of milk in metal churns. In reality it turned out this only applied to pasteurised milk, not the un-pasteurised kind used by the cheese producer.

Chocolate Vegelate might not sound like a tasty treat but in 1998 that's what the papers said we'd soon be eating. According to the Daily Mail, Brussels had dictated that the high milk content of British chocolate meant it didn't qualify as chocolate and would have to be renamed either vegelate or "milk chocolate with a high milk content".

Circus performers In 2003 we were warned a trip to the circus would forever be changed after new legislation made it compulsory for all tight rope walkers to wear hard hats.

Firemen's poles In 2002 newspapers declared that EU legislation had banned the use of firemen's poles and ordered firemen to walk down the stairs instead in order to reduce injury and compensation claims.

Home baking Endangering the future of the summer fete and church fair, it was rumoured in 2004 that a new EU directive would make it illegal to sell any food which did not bear a full ingredients list and food warnings such as "may contains nuts".

Smoky bacon crisps In 2003 the Sunday Times warned that the European Parliament had taken action against the humble crisp. All smoky bacon-flavoured crisps and other artificially smoke-flavoured foods, it claimed, were to be outlawed. This was supposedly because the European parliament had declared that the chemicals producing the distinctive taste, extracted from condensed woodsmoke, may contain cancer-causing agents.

Sex toys In 2004 The Sun warned that as part of a recycling drive the EU was demanding all women hand in their worn-out sex toys before they were allowed to go out and buy a new one.

Leeks In 2002 controversy marred St David's Day as legislation was revealed which would regulate the size of the leek. Greengrocers, it was reported, could only sell the vegetable if it was at least 8mm thick.